I know I'll get some stick for this but Jo Brand has always made me laugh. Was a techie at her stand up show at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1989 and we were all pissing ourselves.
Reading some of these, I do wonder whether the approach some of you have to watching a stand up comedian is to stand with your arms folded and say "Go on then mate, make me laugh. I bet you can't." Pretty much all stand ups are better if you enter into it ready to laugh. If you've decided beforehand that you won't like it, the chances are, you won't like it.
There will always be some comedians you won't like (or whose style or material you don't like), but the trick is to try to get past your previous experience because their new stuff might be better. Also, no comedian is flawlessly funny. They all have off days and jokes that just don't work. That doesn't make them shit, but if you saw a bad show, they may be better next time.
I'm as guilty as everyone else, by the way. I can't watch Chris Ramsey or Michael McIntyre because their fucking stupid faces annoy me too much. That doesn't mean they're rubbish. Loads of people go to see them live and they keep getting more gigs and tv shows - they must be funny to some people.
Anyway, I think the thread title isn't quite right. I don't think any successful stand up comedian can be arbitrarily labelled as "just not funny". "I don't find them funny and I refuse to give them a chance" is more appropriate and my nominations are the aforementioned Ramsey and McIntyre.
Reading some of these, I do wonder whether the approach some of you have to watching a stand up comedian is to stand with your arms folded and say "Go on then mate, make me laugh. I bet you can't." Pretty much all stand ups are better if you enter into it ready to laugh. If you've decided beforehand that you won't like it, the chances are, you won't like it.
There will always be some comedians you won't like (or whose style or material you don't like), but the trick is to try to get past your previous experience because their new stuff might be better. Also, no comedian is flawlessly funny. They all have off days and jokes that just don't work. That doesn't make them shit, but if you saw a bad show, they may be better next time.
I'm as guilty as everyone else, by the way. I can't watch Chris Ramsey or Michael McIntyre because their fucking stupid faces annoy me too much. That doesn't mean they're rubbish. Loads of people go to see them live and they keep getting more gigs and tv shows - they must be funny to some people.
Anyway, I think the thread title isn't quite right. I don't think any successful stand up comedian can be arbitrarily labelled as "just not funny". "I don't find them funny and I refuse to give them a chance" is more appropriate and my nominations are the aforementioned Ramsey and McIntyre.
I almost entirely applaud this very astute summing up of the subject. With the tiny exception of your view of Ramsey and McIntyre, to which I refer you to my inferior on intellect, but heart felt honest post earlier in the thread.
Reading some of these, I do wonder whether the approach some of you have to watching a stand up comedian is to stand with your arms folded and say "Go on then mate, make me laugh. I bet you can't." Pretty much all stand ups are better if you enter into it ready to laugh. If you've decided beforehand that you won't like it, the chances are, you won't like it.
There will always be some comedians you won't like (or whose style or material you don't like), but the trick is to try to get past your previous experience because their new stuff might be better. Also, no comedian is flawlessly funny. They all have off days and jokes that just don't work. That doesn't make them shit, but if you saw a bad show, they may be better next time.
I'm as guilty as everyone else, by the way. I can't watch Chris Ramsey or Michael McIntyre because their fucking stupid faces annoy me too much. That doesn't mean they're rubbish. Loads of people go to see them live and they keep getting more gigs and tv shows - they must be funny to some people.
Anyway, I think the thread title isn't quite right. I don't think any successful stand up comedian can be arbitrarily labelled as "just not funny". "I don't find them funny and I refuse to give them a chance" is more appropriate and my nominations are the aforementioned Ramsey and McIntyre.
I almost entirely applaud this very astute summing up of the subject. With the tiny exception of your view of Ramsey and McIntyre, to which I refer you to my inferior on intellect, but heart felt honest post earlier in the thread.
And you are, of course, completely right @Algarveaddick . My dislike of those two is entirely a failing on my part. I don't like them and that's my problem. I do, however, admire them for getting on a stage with the express intention of making people laugh. They must have got through some rough gigs in their time and they've come out the other side. I've done stand up myself a couple of times (as a teenager and to relatively sympathetic audiences, and even then it is fucking terrifying), but I doubt I could've coped with some of the shitty crowds you get in comedy clubs. So kudos to all of these people for having the guts to hone their craft into what it has become. Whatever that is.
Michael McIntyre or what ever his name is about as funny as the trots
Out of all the unfunny ones, he's the one you want to thump. Repeatedly. Until he shuts that stupid, smug gob.
Christ almighty.....the blokes simply trying to make you laugh, ok he's not succeeding but all you wanna do is smash him one....who'd want to be a comedian. A very very tuff profession and certainly not for the faint hearted. That's somewhat OTT AA, even if you are trying to be funny.
I wasn't trying to be funny, I was expressing the way he makes me feel. Not that I'd ever hit anybody, except in self-defence, and even then, not necessarily. When some loony with a bottle tried to brain me with it after 9/11 because he thought I was a Muslim, all I did was put him in an armlock until the police arrived to take him away.
Michael McIntyre or what ever his name is about as funny as the trots
Out of all the unfunny ones, he's the one you want to thump. Repeatedly. Until he shuts that stupid, smug gob.
Christ almighty.....the blokes simply trying to make you laugh, ok he's not succeeding but all you wanna do is smash him one....who'd want to be a comedian. A very very tuff profession and certainly not for the faint hearted. That's somewhat OTT AA, even if you are trying to be funny.
I wasn't trying to be funny, I was expressing the way he makes me feel. Not that I'd ever hit anybody, except in self-defence, and even then, not necessarily. When some loony with a bottle tried to brain me with it after 9/11 because he thought I was a Muslim, all I did was put him in an armlock until the police arrived to take him away.
Shoulda bent his finger back and gave him a Chinese burn
Lee Evans - I just don't get it. I also have to wipe my TV down after he is on... So shiny. Chris Addison - We get it, you are left wing, hahahahah Tories are shit... Cool. Anyone who relies on their background as some ridiculous stereotype, eg people who have every joke as I am gay (One of the Carr's cant remember which), I am Asian (Russell Peters)
And as I am on that list, more or less every single female comedian is at best, shit at standup, the humour in general relies on the fact they are female rather than that they are funny. They are there to meet a quota in most cases and not because they have any talent. There are a few exceptions to this, but they are the exception
Stephen Fry - Literally just a diva who likes to throw a tantrum, but like most leftwing loudmouths has been given "national treasure" status meaning he can do no wrong when in reality, he just seems like a bit of a cock who throws his toys out of the pram.
A lot of these people can be funny on TV shows, but on the stand up circuit are severely lacking.
Unfortunately a lot of standup is split into two camps. Either deliberately provocative and trying to cause as much offense as possible for the sake of it (Boyle) or so unbelievably left wing and tolerant (most BBC shows). There are a few that fall outside this realm and are genuinely funny but they are few and far inbetween.
Rich Hall and Jim Jefferies stand out to me as 2 who are exceptionally funny.
A great example is Charlie Brooker, one of the biggest dickheads when he is trying to be funny on standup, so tedious, but Black Mirror is 10/10.
Not sure I've ever caught Stephen Fry or Charlie Brooker's stand up tours...
Never let facts get in the way of a baseless dislike Leroy, this is Charlton Life after all...
I've not seen Charlie Brooker do stand-up, but we watched his 'screenwipe' TV show a couple of days ago and he was awful, in that 'oh, listen to me, I'm so right-on and my comments are so sarcastic and cutting' way. Whereas, as Huskaris said, his Black Mirror is the business.
Lee Evans - I just don't get it. I also have to wipe my TV down after he is on... So shiny. Chris Addison - We get it, you are left wing, hahahahah Tories are shit... Cool. Anyone who relies on their background as some ridiculous stereotype, eg people who have every joke as I am gay (One of the Carr's cant remember which), I am Asian (Russell Peters)
And as I am on that list, more or less every single female comedian is at best, shit at standup, the humour in general relies on the fact they are female rather than that they are funny. They are there to meet a quota in most cases and not because they have any talent. There are a few exceptions to this, but they are the exception
Stephen Fry - Literally just a diva who likes to throw a tantrum, but like most leftwing loudmouths has been given "national treasure" status meaning he can do no wrong when in reality, he just seems like a bit of a cock who throws his toys out of the pram.
A lot of these people can be funny on TV shows, but on the stand up circuit are severely lacking.
Unfortunately a lot of standup is split into two camps. Either deliberately provocative and trying to cause as much offense as possible for the sake of it (Boyle) or so unbelievably left wing and tolerant (most BBC shows). There are a few that fall outside this realm and are genuinely funny but they are few and far inbetween.
Rich Hall and Jim Jefferies stand out to me as 2 who are exceptionally funny.
A great example is Charlie Brooker, one of the biggest dickheads when he is trying to be funny on standup, so tedious, but Black Mirror is 10/10.
Not sure I've ever caught Stephen Fry or Charlie Brooker's stand up tours...
Never let facts get in the way of a baseless dislike Leroy, this is Charlton Life after all...
I've not seen Charlie Brooker do stand-up, but we watched his 'screenwipe' TV show a couple of days ago and he was awful, in that 'oh, listen to me, I'm so right-on and my comments are so sarcastic and cutting' way. Whereas, as Huskaris said, his Black Mirror is the business.
This is the reason that I find most modern comedians unfunny, be them stand up, or satirist etc.
During my lifetime comedy has changed in so many ways(particularly over the last 20 years or so)......and very sadly NOT for the better.......people just don't tell jokes anymore because of what is considered to be political correctness. The pub joke telling session with pals is a dying experience, unless of course you're with a crowd with no holds barred where you can let your hair down and laugh at what the fuck you damn well want to, without some humourless wanker pouring cold water on the occasion. I don't care if someone makes a joke at my expense, because they'll likely get one back from me or someone else in the fullness of time. Few stand up comics nowadays tell jokes where there is a victim i.e. a piss take, which was so much a part of our culture, you gave it out and you took it back. Nowadays it's all about social comment and being a raconteur.......being a clever dick or an observational smart arse. Most of them (I'm sorry to say), couldn't tell a decent joke with phrasing and timing if it was staring them in the face. I believe I speak for most folk( at least from my generation), when I say that the intervention of political correctness in humour has been a very sad and negative phenomena. Having said that, I admire anyone who gets up on stage with the intention of making people laugh.....it's unquestionably one of the hardest professions going.
If you mean Nina Conti, not Scottish, I saw her live in her own show and she was genuinely hilarious. Not something i ascribe cheaply.
Christ, even worse. She just pretends to be Scottish because the Scots are inherently funny. Fuck me.
How does she pretend to be Scottish exactly? If anything she's on the posh side.
Her live show is excellent, highly interactive, quite experimental in places. Dara O'Briain is also highly interactive, as is Jimmy Carr. I'm beginning to think perhaps I like interactive comics.
Short TV appearances - especially panel shows - are no substitute for seeing comedians live in their own show, or at a club.
During my lifetime comedy has changed in many ways.......and very sadly NOT for the better.......people just don't tell jokes anymore because of what is considered to be political correctness.
I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. Comedy, like everything else, evolves over time. There are still successful comedians who tell conventional jokes, for example, Tim Vine. There are also successful comedians who are deliberately offensive, like Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle, so I'm not sure political correctness is really an issue. There may be certain styles of stand-up that have gone out of fashion, as will always happen, but even then there are a few 'old-fashioned' (as it were) comics making good livings for themselves, even if they don't get shown on TV.
I think you have to be receptive to the joke - whatever it is and who delivers it! If you decide somebody isn't funny, then they are not going to entertain you. Sometimes you just have to let yourself go and something clicks. You can never say somebody isn't funny. If they have a career, some people must find them funny, even if you don't.
I think you have to be receptive to the joke - whatever it is and who delivers it! If you decide somebody isn't funny, then they are not going to entertain you. Sometimes you just have to let yourself go and something clicks. You can never say somebody isn't funny. If they have a career, some people must find them funny, even if you don't.
Getting in an early shot at 2017's Stating the Bleedin' Obvious award. I think we all took the subjective nature of the thread title as read.
During my lifetime comedy has changed in many ways.......and very sadly NOT for the better.......people just don't tell jokes anymore because of what is considered to be political correctness.
I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. Comedy, like everything else, evolves over time. There are still successful comedians who tell conventional jokes, for example, Tim Vine. There are also successful comedians who are deliberately offensive, like Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle, so I'm not sure political correctness is really an issue. There may be certain styles of stand-up that have gone out of fashion, as will always happen, but even then there are a few 'old-fashioned' (as it were) comics making good livings for themselves, even if they don't get shown on TV.
Political correctness existed back in the early days of radio and TV. I was told Max Miller got banned from the BBC for his 'block her passage or toss myself off' joke, if this is so then the political correctness of the time meant you couldn't make racy jokes but I have no idea if you could make jokes about blacks, Irish, Pakistanis, etc. I can remember those being told in the 60s and 70s, but people like Morecambe and Wise, Leonard Rossiter, Ronnie Barker, the Pythons, et al were funny without having to denigrate others because of their race.
During my lifetime comedy has changed in many ways.......and very sadly NOT for the better.......people just don't tell jokes anymore because of what is considered to be political correctness.
I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. Comedy, like everything else, evolves over time. There are still successful comedians who tell conventional jokes, for example, Tim Vine. There are also successful comedians who are deliberately offensive, like Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle, so I'm not sure political correctness is really an issue. There may be certain styles of stand-up that have gone out of fashion, as will always happen, but even then there are a few 'old-fashioned' (as it were) comics making good livings for themselves, even if they don't get shown on TV.
Maybe I should have said 'few' tell jokes rather than none. A joke is a joke is a joke though Gillis.....always was and always will be.
New Year Walliams and Friend. A sketch show that is on the whole mildly amusing at best....... Sketch - Celebrity Slammer, where celebrities are locked up in prison until public votes to free them. Yawn! Interview with inmates the Chuckle brothers......It went something like this....
Paul Chuckle: I think Bob Carolgies will be the first to crack
Barry Chuckle: Yes, and his dog
Paul Chuckle: It isn't a real dog, it's a puppet
Barry Chuckle: Isn't it?
Paul Chuckle: of course not. Hadn't you wondered why he has had his hand up its backside for the last 10 weeks?
Barry Chuckle: Yes but I didn't like to ask!
Had me wetting myself!!!! You just don't know when that golden laugh is coming from. I haven't laughed so much in years. Barry Chuckle delivered the punchline so well!
So, to summarise, between us we hate every comedian who has ever lived. But then on a site where we can't even agree on how arithmetic works something as subjective as humour was never going to see much uniformity.
Reading some of these, I do wonder whether the approach some of you have to watching a stand up comedian is to stand with your arms folded and say "Go on then mate, make me laugh. I bet you can't." Pretty much all stand ups are better if you enter into it ready to laugh. If you've decided beforehand that you won't like it, the chances are, you won't like it.
There will always be some comedians you won't like (or whose style or material you don't like), but the trick is to try to get past your previous experience because their new stuff might be better. Also, no comedian is flawlessly funny. They all have off days and jokes that just don't work. That doesn't make them shit, but if you saw a bad show, they may be better next time.
I'm as guilty as everyone else, by the way. I can't watch Chris Ramsey or Michael McIntyre because their fucking stupid faces annoy me too much. That doesn't mean they're rubbish. Loads of people go to see them live and they keep getting more gigs and tv shows - they must be funny to some people.
Anyway, I think the thread title isn't quite right. I don't think any successful stand up comedian can be arbitrarily labelled as "just not funny". "I don't find them funny and I refuse to give them a chance" is more appropriate and my nominations are the aforementioned Ramsey and McIntyre.
Comments
But I was a Guardian reader at the time.
Pretty much all stand ups are better if you enter into it ready to laugh. If you've decided beforehand that you won't like it, the chances are, you won't like it.
There will always be some comedians you won't like (or whose style or material you don't like), but the trick is to try to get past your previous experience because their new stuff might be better. Also, no comedian is flawlessly funny. They all have off days and jokes that just don't work. That doesn't make them shit, but if you saw a bad show, they may be better next time.
I'm as guilty as everyone else, by the way. I can't watch Chris Ramsey or Michael McIntyre because their fucking stupid faces annoy me too much. That doesn't mean they're rubbish. Loads of people go to see them live and they keep getting more gigs and tv shows - they must be funny to some people.
Anyway, I think the thread title isn't quite right. I don't think any successful stand up comedian can be arbitrarily labelled as "just not funny". "I don't find them funny and I refuse to give them a chance" is more appropriate and my nominations are the aforementioned Ramsey and McIntyre.
My dislike of those two is entirely a failing on my part. I don't like them and that's my problem. I do, however, admire them for getting on a stage with the express intention of making people laugh. They must have got through some rough gigs in their time and they've come out the other side.
I've done stand up myself a couple of times (as a teenager and to relatively sympathetic audiences, and even then it is fucking terrifying), but I doubt I could've coped with some of the shitty crowds you get in comedy clubs. So kudos to all of these people for having the guts to hone their craft into what it has become. Whatever that is.
The pub joke telling session with pals is a dying experience, unless of course you're with a crowd with no holds barred where you can let your hair down and laugh at what the fuck you damn well want to, without some humourless wanker pouring cold water on the occasion.
I don't care if someone makes a joke at my expense, because they'll likely get one back from me or someone else in the fullness of time.
Few stand up comics nowadays tell jokes where there is a victim i.e. a piss take, which was so much a part of our culture, you gave it out and you took it back. Nowadays it's all about social comment and being a raconteur.......being a clever dick or an observational smart arse.
Most of them (I'm sorry to say), couldn't tell a decent joke with phrasing and timing if it was staring them in the face.
I believe I speak for most folk( at least from my generation), when I say that the intervention of political correctness in humour has been a very sad and negative phenomena.
Having said that, I admire anyone who gets up on stage with the intention of making people laugh.....it's unquestionably one of the hardest professions going.
Her live show is excellent, highly interactive, quite experimental in places. Dara O'Briain is also highly interactive, as is Jimmy Carr. I'm beginning to think perhaps I like interactive comics.
Short TV appearances - especially panel shows - are no substitute for seeing comedians live in their own show, or at a club.
A joke is a joke is a joke though Gillis.....always was and always will be.
Paul Chuckle: I think Bob Carolgies will be the first to crack
Barry Chuckle: Yes, and his dog
Paul Chuckle: It isn't a real dog, it's a puppet
Barry Chuckle: Isn't it?
Paul Chuckle: of course not. Hadn't you wondered why he has had his hand up its backside for the last 10 weeks?
Barry Chuckle: Yes but I didn't like to ask!
Had me wetting myself!!!! You just don't know when that golden laugh is coming from. I haven't laughed so much in years. Barry Chuckle delivered the punchline so well!